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The grey skies overhead have once again brought on my need for tweed! It’s been a long time coming but we know you want to ride again! The date has yet to be set but be certain that the plans have begun. More information will be forthcoming this week.

Royal Heraldry of Canada

Our fine Canadian neighbors to the north are breaking out their dapper duds for their very own Edmonton Tweed Ride!

This is admittedly not the first Canadian Tweed Ride — that honor goes to the  First Daffodil Tweed Ride and Picnic in Vancouver, British Columbia; however, it is the first in Alberta. I can only hope this means the Tweed movement is spreading eastward and we shall soon see Tweed appearing in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec, Labrador and Newfoundland! Then if the dapper is strong we can hope to see Tweed migrate north to the lovely expanses of Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut!

Edmonton Tweed Ride

May 24th

Start 6:30pm at the University of Alberta in the “quad“

This will be a social ride with a bit of style. The proper attire for this ride will of course be expected. We will be taking a leisurely ride through the city and will be stopping for mid-ride fortitude and cheer.

There will be Contests for:

• Most dapper chap
• Most dashing dame
• Award for most civilized behavior on the day

For more info visit A Lost Home’s Blog

East Bay Tweed Ride, June 4th (photo by Bryan Kiechle)

East Bay Tweed Ride, June 4th

6:30 pm – Sally Forth from Mosswood Park in Oakland

7:00 pm – Meetup with SF Tweed at MacArthur BART

End Point – Trappist, Belgian & Specialty Beer Bar

It of course goes without saying that there will be the most dashing of cyclists. As in past rides, we have more fun and games up our sleeves which shall be announced as we get closer to the date. I am certain that it will be a grand old time!

Whether you live here or there, I sincerely hope you do join us as we explore the wonders of the East Bay — in Tweed!

* During the Greeting and Salutation contests two people will step forward and greet each other like they both now each other but haven’t seen one another for a while. For an example of this I recommend watching this Peter Cook and Dudley Moore sketch from Beyond the Fridge. Both the Greeting and Salutation contests are elimination challenges which means the lesser greeter gets kicked off and a new challenger steps forward.

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The East Bay Tweed Ride is being organized by the lovely and talented eastTweeds: Morley Roarly, Josie Pokiedot, and Nan Eastep, of B.Spoke Tailer. We at SF Tweed are ever grateful that these fine lasses have stepped forward to help make the first East Bay Tweed Ride an adventure to remember!

I am still overwhelmed by how warm and wonderous the entire evening was. Dashing cyclists waving cheerio to all passersby as we rolled down Market and along the Embarcadero.

SF Tweed Riders roll, spin, and twhirl photo by Audrey Penven

And nothing can compare to the magical feeling of seeing Corpus Callosum play at the end of the Maritime Park Pier as dusk settled around us and the San Francisco skyline began light up.

Once again, we ended our ride at the lovely Tosca Cafe, who warmed us up with their delicious hot choco and brandy.

Lanky Joe and Nifer high on Tweed, photo by Audrey Penven

Sheila Moon, photo by neiltron

The chaps were dapper and the lasses snappy, with the most dashing awarded by the gracious and talented Sheila Moon, who donated several chic — and amazingly comfy — wool cycling caps.

Thanks Sheila for sponsoring the SF Tweed contest! I must say it was a pleasure to have you along for the ride, and I’m more than happy to promote your made in San Francisco quality cycle fashion — truly any cyclist would be doing themselves a favor by casting an eye on SheilaMoon.com!

What’s next?

We already have plans ruminating for our next tweed outings: an East Bay Tweed Ride, a Sunday Tweed Picnic (most dapper kidlet contest!), and more! So sign up for the Jaunty Mailer and follow @sftweed on twitter

Also keep an eye on the SF Tweed website for more tweed highlights. Over the next coming days, we will be showcasing some of the amazing tweed cyclists, photographers, artists, and more. We also have an eye out for guest writers, so if you have any tweed and/or cycling expertise you’d like to share please contact us.

Cheerio!

Sydney Tweed Ride

Following the fine style of London, San Francisco, Auckland and soon Chicago. Sydney is having it’s very own Tweed Ride.

So gather your most dapper or ladylike apparel and join us for a spin around the city and a fine cup of tea!

Charm over the orignal post or the Sydney Cyclist Events for more details!

Reed Unsettled, by Rubin

Get ready to toss your tweed caps in the air because SF Tweed Rides again!

April 30th Thursday Tweed Ride II

6:30pm — Gather at Union Square
7:00pm — Join with East Bay Tweed at Powell St. Station*
Ending — The Majestic Tosca Cafe!

Once again, we fine bastions of tweed bicivility will gather to show the city how to really ride in style! Fortunately, Spring is upon us, and the night has begun to be pushed back by the day. As such, the sun shall still grace our ride, giving all passersby a chance to bask in our grand tweediness!

Our last ride was a joyful time with games, contests, and of course the sharpest dressed company a cyclist could ask for. What does this ride have in store your ask:

• Will there be more jolly games? …But of course!
• Will there be wonderful contests? …I’m glad you asked — contest details will be announced later. Stay tuned through our fair web site’s RSS feed, our Jaunty Mailer, or our twitter @sftweed
• Will there be dapper chaps and smashing ladies? …You have to ask? Just look photos of all the dashing cyclists from the last tweed ride.

UPDATES!

Corpus Callosum, post-industrial-folk-noir

The route has been settled! We will be enjoying a fine ride around the city following the Embarcadero towards the Fisherman’s Wharf and then winding back to the majestic Tosca Cafe, with a secret location halftime performance by the fabulous musical stylings of Corpus Callosum!

Contests

Once again we will have contests! Along with the two old favorites Most Dapper Chap and Most Snappy Lass we have two fresh new categories:

• Most Dashing Neckwear — open to both men and women of course; not open to winners of either of the above contests
• Most Stylish Pairing of Habiliment & Steed — to properly win this contest you and your two wheels must work together to create a more fashionable (or strange) whole.

We also have a lovely new SF Tweed Ride flyer which I will be passing out at Critical Mass this evening. If any people would care to help pass out flyers please let me know. It’s fun and a great way to meet people!

SF Tweed Ride, April 30th

Sign Up For The New Jaunty Mailer!

Be sure to sign up for the Jaunty Mailer to stay abreast of future Tweed Rides and all things Tweedy!

* The earliest BART that allows bicycles from southern East Bay arrives at Powell St. Station at 6:39pm and the earliest train from northern East Bay arrives at Powell at 6:57pm. Also note that BART has an unfortunate bias against Penny Farthings.